Push and Pull | Chuuya Nakahara

CHAPTER 4

Sakura was itching to pick a lock, or a wallet, or a watch.

She'd been away from the lovely thrill of adventure, the adrenaline of living in the streets, the harmony of mischievous plans for far too long. She'd spent three days in the Port Mafia Headquarters— reportedly the longest time she'd ever stayed in one, single location— and she'd done little to absolutely nothing.

Occasionally, she'd get the delicious chance to rile Chuuya up during meals or meetings with the Boss about their upcoming job, but other than that, there had been a rare lack of action in her life.

Sakura was patient, make no mistake. Patience was a required virtue for any criminal, especially a cunning one. She had had to wait to see her plans through step by step very thoroughly before, but that never stopped her from getting bored. Like any other, Sakura quite enjoyed danger and action. So no matter how patient she was, she couldn't resist the inevitable boredom that came with doing nothing.

So it came as a massive relief when the Boss finally gave her and Chuuya the all clear to move on with the job.

They didn't really have a set plan on it. Chuuya had desperately tried to get Sakura to devise even just a semblance of a strategy, but she refused very adamantly. When he'd ask her why in complete irritation, she'd just give him a serious side eye and tell him that they needn't any plan.

"So what's our take on this, exactly?" Chuuya asked, pulling his gloves tighter against his hands and pocketing a small gun. "Do you just expect to go in through the door, grab the prisoner and leave?"

"No" Sakura said, without sparing him a look. "I'll go in through the window"

"Hah?!" Chuuya's eyes widened a fraction and his eyebrows furrowed. He cocked his head to the side and looked at Sakura as if she had just produced an elephant from her pocket. "You're not being serious, are you? Please tell me you're not"

"Why wouldn't I be? I go in through the window, get the sleazy fucker and walk out the door" She explained.

"Okay, say this works— which it won't, by the way, because it's entirely idiotic and unrealistic— where exactly do I fit in this magnificent plan of yours?" Chuuya asked, crossing his arms before his chest.

"What do you mean?"

"What's my role in this? If you just plan to get in and out so easily, then what am I supposed to be doing?" Chuuya emphasized.

"Easy. You're the decoy" Sakura told him, finally looking up from her handiwork and maintaining very brief eye contact. In the very short moment that their eyes met, Chuuya could tell that she was being serious.

"Excuse me?"

"You're excused"

"That's not what I meant! What do you mean I'm the decoy? You're gonna need a decoy to go in through the window?" Asked Chuuya incredulously.

"Oh come on, short stack, think. We have to hit where the mark isn't looking. If you walk in through the door so very brilliantly and distract them with your fancy talk and your fancy hat, they won't bother looking at their precious window. So when I swipe in, I can easily catch them by surprise and slip past them with the bastard in hand" Sakura explained. But even after her explanation, everything felt so incomplete. Chuuya had so many questions and he was certain he had never heard such an idiotic plan in all his life. This woman, one of the most elusive criminals in the streets, planned to literally walk out of the Agency's door with a valuable prisoner, expecting no recoil and no problems.